Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Risks and Optimal Capital Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dangers and Optimal Capital Structure - Essay Example USA being a moderately proficient and educated market condition. Dangers will in general be firmly connected with returns anticipated. The segments of dangers that are one of a kind to only us include: 1. Swelling risk._ expansion can furnish an approach to stay aware of or remain in front of swelling. It is characterized as the ascent as a rule levels of costs. During high time of swelling, there is a hazard that the monetary return of a speculation won't stay up with the expansion rate. It lessens the buying power, other than; this hazard differs structure one speculation to the next. Private ventures can be truly influenced in light of the fact that this hazard can not be protected against such hazard. 2. Market chance: _ the costs of stocks, securities, common assets and different items and even administrations may change in light of the conduct of financial specialists in the commercial center. Therefore, financial development isn't as precise and unsurprising as most speculators would accept. Times of quick extension are trailed by times of downturn; it might be very hard to sell speculations like land. Variances in the market cost for stocks and securities may have nothing to do with the key changes in the budgetary wellbeing of independent companies. Regular reasons for such variances can be brought about by political or social conditions. 3. 3. Loan cost chance _ this hazard is related with a fixed return interest in favored stocks or government bonds. It is the consequence of changes in the loan fees in the economy. The estimation of these fixed speculation protections and obtained venture supports diminishes when by and large loan costs increment. 4. Worldwide venture risk__Nowadays private ventures have become worldwide centers, as the world has gotten progressively interconnected into a worldwide town. Little dealers keep their interests in remote organizations and other worldwide players and this makes extra dangers because of conversion scale in global monetary forms as trade rates straightforwardly influence returns. 5. Business disappointment risk_ this is related with the chance of awful administration, ineffective items, rivalry, or numerous different variables that can make the business be less productive than initially envisioned. Lower benefits would mean lower profits or no profits by any stretch of the imagination. Organizations can likewise shut down because of chapter 11 as well. Ideal capital structure implies that organizations settle on what the best proportion is, between value or proprietors capital and obtained or obligation ought to be. At the point when such is painstakingly done, organizations ought to limit borrowings as much as to abstain from paying high enthusiasm on them. Incases from capital contributed from pariahs, partnerships should initially pay them (compulsorily) before paying themselves .this groups the subject of keeping up an ideal capital structure to organizations paying little heed to their greatness. REFERNCES 1. Money related administration diary vol.33, 2004. 2. www.fma, 2007 3. Geoffrey A.Hirt and Stanley square, essentials of speculation the executives 2003. 4. Kapoor Dlabay, individual account sixth release 2001. 5. Richard loth, www.investopedia.com, assessing an organization's capital structure, Oct

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Contemporary Art Form Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contemporary Art Form - Research Paper Example The paper Contemporary Art Form Paper finds the Contemporary Art. There is overpowering agreement among the overall communities of the world that the American intrusion of Iraq in 2003 and its proceeded with control of the nation under desperate common strife, is both ridiculous and unethical. This is affirmed by the gigantic open exhibitions (in the United States and the remainder of the world) that was seen when war plans were reported in mid 2003. The infringement felt by the overall population is with the end goal that the fights proceeds right up 'til the present time, which is generally obvious in the blogosphere and elective media critique. In this scenery, some inventive craftsmen in the United States and somewhere else have attempted to utilize different works of art to enlist their dissent. The as of late introduced play by Karen Malpede, titled Prophecy brings the crowd into the core of the Iraq war. It investigates the mind boggling web of connections between different ar eas of common society when a locale is militarily interceded. Featuring such robust on-screen characters as Kathleen Chalfant, Andre de Shields and George Bartenieff, the play draws out the expansive result of any war and underscores the disarray and disturbance that goes to it. If not legitimately being educational about wars of assorted types, the play quietly suggests the purposelessness of war. In fact, the counter war message from the theater network has been so full in the most recent decade that a topical collection was distributed as of late. â€Å"Acts of War: Iraq and Afghanistan in Seven Plays†,

Monday, August 17, 2020

Writing in a Gratitude Journal For Stress Relief

Writing in a Gratitude Journal For Stress Relief Stress Management Management Techniques Print How to Maintain a Gratitude Journal for Stress Relief By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Updated on April 23, 2019 How Stress Impacts Your Health Overview Signs of Burnout Stress and Weight Gain Benefits of Exercise Stress Reduction Tips Self-Care Practices Mindful Living Woods Wheatcroft/Aurora/Getty Images Developing an attitude of gratitude toward the people, things, and events in your life is a life-affirming and effective way to strengthen your emotional resilience and reduce stress, among other things. Maintaining a gratitude journal makes it easy to get in the habit of focusing on the positive in your life  while also reaping the benefits of journaling.   How to Start a Gratitude Journal The following are  simple steps  to maintaining a gratitude journal, which is a  useful tool for stress management. Decide on a Journal.  You may want to maintain your journal online or in paper form. When deciding which journal method to use, think about:Whether youd rather type or print. If you spend all day on the computer, writing on paper may be a good change.Where youd like to do the bulk of your writing. Will you want to journal in bed before going to sleep? Can you steal a few minutes alone in the den each night?Whether privacy is an issue that may affect your decision. Keep in mind that a computer is not entirely secure, especially online word processing software. Likewise, your personal laptop may be better if youd like to keep your thoughts private in your home.  Decide on a Framework.  There are a number of ways that you can structure your journal entries.  Do what works best for you and change it up if you need to.  The main idea is to get yourself into a place of reflection and gratitude.  You can write long, descriptive paragraphs about what you appreciate in your daily life.Your gr atitude journal can consist entirely of lists.You can write a preset number of items per entry (10 per day, for example).You can just resolve to write about whatever seems right for a particular day.  Commit to a Schedule.  An important aspect of the long-term success of your gratitude journal is the frequency with which you use it.Its usually best to aim for once a day  or several times per week in the beginning,  but allow yourself some wiggle room if things get busy.You want to make a commitment that will keep you inspired to write, even if you arent always in the mood  because this exercise can help change your mood.Just dont allow your schedule to be so rigid that youll be tempted to give up the whole plan if you slip up once or twice.Just Keep Writing.  Many people find that their whole attitude changes once theyve been keeping a gratitude journal for a while. They tend to notice things throughout the day that they may want to include in the journal, things they wouldnt have o therwise noticed.To maintain a more optimistic attitude, be sure to write regularly.If you find yourself skipping days with increasing frequency, gently remind yourself why youre maintaining the gratitude journal in the first place.Be grateful that you are able to get back into the habit of writing again anytime you want. Enjoy! 4 Tips for Gratitude Journaling Gratitude journals tend to be most effective when you write about three items at the end of each day. This is regular enough and simple enough to be do-able and writing at the end of the day tends to bring the best benefits.Remember that you may want to read over your journal entries in the future. This can be a great pick-me-up when youre feeling stressed or depressed.Experiment with the types of things you write about. If you find yourself always mentioning the obvious things (Im grateful for my children) every day, challenge yourself to notice the subtle things (Today I had caramel ice cream cone, and it was amazing!)Remember that all gratitude doesnt need to be saved for the journal. Tell the people in your life how much you appreciate them. From people in your family to sales clerks and postal employees you encounter in your day, everyone likes to know that theyre appreciated. Their positive reactions can help put you in a positive mood, too!

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Stereotyping of Jews Essay - 1277 Words

In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as â€Å"a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.† Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will†¦show more content†¦Though not all Jews fit the descriptions mentioned above, these were the characteristics used to discriminate the Jews in the past. When looking at European history, it is easy to identify where the ster eotypes against the Jews first originated. In Medieval Europe, for instance, Jews were limited to the types of occupations they could hold. They were banned from farming and entering guilds, so many of them became merchants and money-lenders (Singer). Since both these occupations dealt with the exchange money, dealing loans, setting prices, and charging interest, people began to stereotype the Jews as scheming merchants who demanded money from their customers, but refuse to give back the money they owed to others. Since then, the Jews have been popularly characterized as â€Å"cheap† individuals. Never before in history, however, has stereotyping against the Jews reached such a climatic level than in Third Reich during World War II. As the German economy was suffering from the affects of the war, many Germans blamed the Jews for the country’s decline since the Jews held positions in finance, commerce, and the press. When Germany’s most influential leader, Adolf Hitler, came to power in the year 1934, he confirmed that the Jews were the cause of the depression within the country, proclaiming that the Jews were greedy, evil, cowardly, and corruptingShow MoreRelatedJudaism- Myths and Misconceptions1599 Words   |  7 PagesStereotyping is rampant throughout the world and people worldwide are stereotyped based on many factors. Stereotypes are generalities about a specific group of people that can be positive; however most stereotypes are distinctly negative. When a group is stereotyped, a definite and distinct set of characteristics attributed to that group of people based on a preconceived appearance of that group. Stereotyping is particularly problematic since it can lead to further discrimination and prejudiceRead MoreThe Holocaust Was Influenced By Hate, And The Remembrance Of Holocaust1430 Words   |  6 Pagesthe systematic killing and extermination of millions of Jews and other Europeans by the German Nazi state between 1939 and 1945. Innocent Europeans were forced from their homes into concentration camps, executed violently, and used for medical experiments. The Nazis believed their acts against this innocent society were justified when hate was the motivating factor. The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on a society. It forces societies to examine the responsibilityRead MoreThe Effects Of Religious Stereotyping And Prejudice On Teens1084 Words   |  5 PagesThe Effects of Religious Stereotyping and Prejudice on Teens All Muslims are terrorists, Jews are greedy bankers, and America is a Christian country. These are just a few of the many stereotypes that cause negative perceptions toward minority religious groups. Every day, religious groups across America experience some form of discrimination because of these stereotypes about their beliefs. Hate crimes and discrimination are on the rise; there have been 31% more hate crimes in 2017 than at this timeRead MoreHope Amidst Terror1036 Words   |  5 Pagesoccurred during Hitlers systematic execution of the Jews. Schindler was able to save over one thousand Jews by using his wealth and connections. The compassion that this member of the Nazi party showed to the Jews was punishable by death, yet he risked his life. Schindler and his assistant, Itzhak Stern, created a list of names, all of Schindler’s beloved workers who would be saved the horror of certain death at Nazi concentration camps. Stern, although a Jew, earned the position of well de served power,Read MoreThe Nazi Party and The Holocaust Essay610 Words   |  3 Pagesthe luck of the last leaders passing. He blamed others for his struggle. He passed laws, to make it legal to descriminate and to single out groups of people, races, and religions. During the Holocaust, terrible and devistating things happened. Jews, and other races, religions, and eve people were singled out and killed. AEs History of the Holocoust would call it a mass murder. Hitler and his men killed millions of people. They killed them in many desturbing ways. Camps were even set up. HundredsRead MoreTreatment of Race in the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien1151 Words   |  5 Pagesthe group of dwarves and the hobbit for trespassing. Stereotypes are widely held perceptions than an individual may ‘belong’ to a specific group based upon their appearance or small knowledge of the individual. Major ‘categories’ that exist in stereotyping include gender, race, age. religion, sexual orientation, heritage, and physical ability. Modern stereotypes include generalizing that young, black men are all dangerous and aggressive or that all Asians are intelligent, bad drivers, and â€Å"yellow†Read MoreIndividuality, By Logan Fey1593 Words   |  7 Pagesmore people in society. To avoid folding under this pressure, one must believe in what he or she does, as shown by the narrator’s prideful behavior. People often lose their individuality and their personal identity through stereotyping. One specific aspect is religious stereotyping. When practicing one’s faith, individuals tend to stress the differences rather than focus on the similarities. As a result, individuals are judged by what they believe in and religious stereotypes are applied. OftentimesRead MoreI Had The Privilege Of Attending An Event Put On By The Hillel / Jewish Student Organization1415 Words   |  6 Pagesto a boarding school in Bad Nauheim, Germany so Martin could continue on with his education. After two years at the school, Martin and his family were forced to leave their home and move to Fulda Germany and live in apartments with the rest of the Jews from his town. One day while attending school, a rock went flying through the window and injured some of Martin’s fellow classmates. His teacher told the kids to run away and go home, the city was in flames. A few hours later German Nazi officers cameRead MoreI Had The Privilege Of Attending An Event Put On By The Hillel / Jewish Student Organization1415 Words   |  6 Pagesto a boarding school in Bad Nauheim, Germany so Martin could continue on with his education. After two years at the school, Martin and his family were forced to leave their home and move to Fulda, Germany and live in apartments with the rest of the Jews from his town. One day while attending school, a rock went flying through the window and injured some of Martin’s fellow classmates. His teacher told the kids to run away and go home, the city was in flames. A few hours later German Nazi officers cameRead MoreStereotyping Arabs667 Words   |  3 PagesThe Stereotyping of Arabs Persuasive Essay The world is filled with different races, cultures, religions and beliefs; everyone has a different opinion and perspectives on life. Unfortunately not everyone respects other peoples personal opinions, this had led to discrimination, stereotyping, hatred and even war. After many incidents that affected the world; Arabs started being discriminated by many people. People were stereotyping the Arabs and they had the wrong image about them

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Emotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership - 1144 Words

Today, a relationship co-exist with emotional intelligence (EI) for effective leadership. Leadership can be described as having a social relation with personnel within an organization to support mission goals and purpose. â€Å"Emotional intelligence includes the ability to perceive, express emotions accurately and adaptively†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (as cited in Ramchunder Martins, 2014). EI is a measurement of leaders to observant of others viewpoints as well your own judgments and beliefs. Key leadership capabilities involves emotions in working with individuals from standpoints, belief, judgment and outlook. The following test results are from self-assessment links in the categories of emotional intelligence, personality test, learning styles, values survey and diversity tolerance. First, to discuss the result of emotional intelligence with a score of 63% - basic skill, resulting in requiring improvement in understand emotions of individuals. Although, having a basic skilled called f or improvement in this area. The result was surprising, this meant that I had not accomplished social relations, the higher the EI score the individual is thought to perceive emotions and understand and manage emotions. In understanding EI, I found the result may be accurate considering I have difficulty with this area during emotionally demanding days which directly impacts social relationships with others, patients and co-workers. I have through the years developed an understanding of impacting others withShow MoreRelatedEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership1250 Words   |  5 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership What is emotional intelligence? â€Å" Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth.† – Mayer Salovery, 1997 Emotionally intelligent leaders are somewhat manipulative. Emotionally intelligent leaders are able toRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership768 Words   |  4 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership Candice Burnett Professor Judy Smith Mannings BUS520: Leadership and Organizational Behavior 10/31/2015 â€Æ' Abstract Emotions are a quality that each individual possess. Organizations place leaders in place that have an understanding on how to maintain emotions while in upper positions. Leadership is responsible for the emotional standard that is set throughout the organization. Growth and development leads to the success of handling proper emotionalRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership2207 Words   |  9 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership As human beings, individuals are constantly exposed to emotions. It is in our nature to feel and be emotional as our emotions contribute to our humanity. Our ability to manage and be aware of these emotions and that of others is defined to be our emotional intelligence (Boyatzis, 2014). Essentially an individual’s emotional intelligence is related to how that individual handles themselves and their relationships in an emotional sense. This entailsRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership1426 Words   |  6 Pages Assignment 1: Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership Vigilkumar C. Patel BUS520: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Dr. Eartha Eve Barnett October 29th 2015 â€Å"Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership†, one of the most important constructs in leadership today is the concept and application of emotional intelligence (EI). Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) is a term created by two researchers named Peter Salavoy and John Mayer who developed it as a psychological theoryRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership The correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and leadership skills is gaining interest among scholars and business leaders. These professionals are interested in determining how understanding and managing emotions of the self and others affects leadership skills. Moreover, scientists and business professionals are interested in understanding the elements of emotional intelligence. To this end, the concept of emotional intelligence integratesRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership1107 Words   |  5 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to manage one’s emotions in an intelligent manner such that they do not affect the decision-making process. It is also the ability to understand other people emotions, to know the reason for their behaviors and thus be able to communicate with them (Mayer, 2006). Emotional intelligence involves one’s proficiency in realizing and then being able to behaviors, moods and impulses and thus managingRead MoreEmotional Intelligence And Effective Leadership1905 Words   |  8 PagesEmotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability necessary to identify, assess and control the emotions of oneself, other people or entire groups (May, 2013). It means having the skills to control one s emotions, as well as to read the room or interpret the moods and emotions of others with whom one is interacting. As a leader this is invaluable, since it is important to maximize the potential of one s staff. Getting along with others is a keyRead MoreIs Emotional Intelligence Beneficial for Effective Leadership?1509 Words   |  7 Pagesare many different definitions of what emotional intelligence is and exactly which components should be included to comprise it. The most basic model of emotional intelligence is the four branch model described by John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1997. The key concepts included in the four branch model are: emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions an d emotional meanings, and to reflectively regulateRead MoreLeadership And Emotional Intelligence : An Effective Leader1390 Words   |  6 PagesLeadership and Emotional Intelligence: An effective leader is defined as a person who is followed by the others, in other words â€Å"leadership is a process of influencing others to achieve organizational goals, creating a vision for others and having the power to translate the vision into realism.† Leadership is a skill in which the leader tries to modify and shape the behavior of others. It has been understood throughout the history and culture that people had been looking towards leaders for assuranceRead MoreEmotional Intelligence : An Effective Leadership Skills Essay933 Words   |  4 PagesEmotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI) is having the ability to recognize, perceive, control, and evaluate one’s emotions. EI is also the ability to see how one’s emotions affect others (Marquis Huston, 2012; Mindtool, 1996-2015). In the healthcare landscape of today, effective leadership skills are critical to an organization. High EI is a skill that effective leaders possess (Sadri, 2012). When a leader has a high EI, they have a clear understanding of their strengths and weaknesses

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

“Budget Cuts” The leading problem facing our educational System Adriana Cruz Free Essays

Budget cut has been the leading problem facing our educational system today. I think that students should be given top priority to learn, excel and benefit from school and not depriving them of their right to learn. Budget cuts in education will mean lesser funding for students in classrooms, the classroom will have a bigger student population and the school maintenance will have lesser spending. We will write a custom essay sample on â€Å"Budget Cuts† The leading problem facing our educational System Adriana Cruz or any similar topic only for you Order Now Budget cut in education in California will not benefit the students of California, and this will include my three school age children, who will suffer the consequences of such cuts. Each student is allocated a certain amount of money for one school year which includes reference materials like books and library materials. I started noticing how my kids had to share supplies such as books and little things as color pencils. Teachers were sharing supplies between them as well such as projectors, computers and television. I think that’s when I started to understand the big impact that the budget was having on schools. With a lesser budget, there will be limited resources for each student. We decided to move to South County, where according to the media, schools were given more funds than in the Northern part. We had to raise our expenses such as rent and food in order to give our children a better education. Unfortunately things are starting to look the same. I am mystified there is not more outrage about this issue. No money for counselors, paper or textbooks? No lunchtime aides, which means inadequate supervision? How can this even be legal? I hear all the people say the system is broken, and we need to fix it, but not on the backs of our children. Research shows that class size makes a huge difference in the quality of education for students for several reasons. Forcing educators to teach large classes increases the possibility of disruptions and decreases the ability of an educator to help struggling students. The current trend of using cooperative learning groups becomes hard to manage in large classes. I have a dyslexic child who really needs to be part of learning groups and a lot of support to succeed in school. . Unfortunately, these programs, which help keep educators abreast of new teaching methods and techniques, suffer from limited funds. As a result, students suffer too. It makes me really sad knowing that funding issues prevent districts from hiring more educators and many are providing less professional development opportunities. I have also noticed that school infrastructure showed to suffer the most in areas like restrooms, graffiti-covered walls, internal heating and cooling, classrooms and desks. I have to personally pay for sports uniforms more than other school items. With all these budget cuts I am sure that cleanliness, repairs of roofs and chairs, paints and classroom supplies will be most likely affected. They don’t seem to realize that a clean and safe surrounding will be very much conducive to learning because a student who is in this kind of environment will be able to concentrate more. There is a noticeable discrepancy between what us as parents and students think schools should cut versus what school officials have on their to-ax lists. The top three items we think schools should cut are school newspaper or broadcast outlets, summer school and field trips, in that order. The last items on students’ â€Å"should-cut† lists, starting from the bottom, are teachers, administrators, guidance counselors and sports. All items that schools have shown to most commonly choose to cut first. As a mother of three, the education of my children is one of my highest priorities. Like every parent, I want the best for my kids. I want them in good classrooms with good teachers where they will flourish, and by the time they graduate high school, will be prepared for the challenges the future will bring them. I feel that student’s ability to reach their academic potential should not be determined by the school they attend, all schools should provide the same quality of education, regardless of the neighborhood or financial status of the parents. I think that education is the basis for future growth, protection, and development of any nation. I do not understand why school districts should take hits of cuts when we have legislators giving themselves raises. Every student, no matter their background, deserves a fully prepared and qualified teacher, a quality education with proper resources, and the right infrastructure. How to cite â€Å"Budget Cuts† The leading problem facing our educational System Adriana Cruz, Papers

Monday, May 4, 2020

Operating System Tools

Question: Explain Operating System Tools. Answer: Operating system tools. Operating system tools can be software programs that are part of the operating system or that are purchased and added separately. Most included programs are those for controlling and setting up the printers and any other plug and play devices. These programs help alter the output display, program addition as well as hardware, it also help us to manage the disk by performing operations like formatting, clean up, and disk optimization. How to install, configure, and personalize an operating system. Before any installation we are supposed to the operating system is prepared to install by collecting the information about the hardware to necessitate configuration establishment in decision making during process of installing. These are the guidelines that need to be well defined before starting the process. Hardware Compatibility:-we have to review all the hardware and ensure that it conforms to the requirements that the operating system needs to handle. Disk space:-sufficient space is required for the installation process so that we do not halt halfway as we are installing due to space, in a case where the system halts the operating system gets corrupted and forces us to start over. The free memory should be at least 10GB for good functioning. Disk Partitions:-we need to break down the hard disk space so that we allocate one partition to keep the OS and the others we assign a name so that we will be saving corresponding documents there. File system: - System files needs to NTFS configured because it allows for security configuration. A system running in NTFS is much more secure as considered to other formats. Any previous OS should be cleaned in all hard disks partition before installing the Operating System. Installation Method With installation method we have to choose if its either going to be installed from boot disks like CD-ROM and DVD, using a USB drive or over the network using PXE Types of Installation Creating image:-requires the installer to come up with a windows system that is bootable that is that make sector copies of everything on the computer. Unattended Installation:-this an installation where one create an .xml document with answers to all the processes, these .xml is customized so that it will run on its own. Upgrade:-these is an installation which begins in presence of previous installations and on identifying it makes an upgrade to the existing to a much later version without altering files nor applications present. Clean Install:-these is where we erase everything in the computer and the install the Operating System to the computer a fresh, it will set all configurations and personalized settings to default. Repair Installation:-is one that usually takes place in case of OS corruption, an attack from a Trojan or worm that has caused the operating system to malfunction. Multiboot:-these allows us to dual boot Operating system, we can install two or more Operating system and all are able to work as required. Installation Process Am going to demonstrate the installation process Using a bootable DVD or CD-ROM, in these case we start the installation from a bootable CD:- Insert the bootable DVD in the disk drive One need to restart the machine and go into bios and set the computer to boot from the DVD, when set up loads you one need to press any key to start the booting process from the disk. We then follow the set-up instruction on the screen. After following the procedure its now time to configure the disk partitions for installation Configuring Disk Partitions and installing Dynamic partition: - is a partition that does not allow any addition of new drive in addition to spanning of data from the basic partition into the newly installed drive. Basic:-this is either a Disk Operating System or windows installed on it.it can bear primary and logical partitions with inclusion of logical drive. Primary:-these partition is the one the system can boot from, it allows performance of Multi-boot capability where one partition is designed as active partition and launches once the computer is powered on. Extended:-these partition comes into use when we need more than four partitions in a disk, with extended partitions we cannot boot from them Logical:-these are partitions created inside an extended partition and does not allow an operating system to boot from it. Installation Formatting takes place after the portion has been created through use of NTFS which is more secure Select the disk partition that the windows will install into After the formatting process, set the computer name and administrator password and you are now well set to customize and personalize the operating system into a way you need. Operating system and process monitoring tools. Monitoring performance of an operating system is important because it allows us to debug processes and systems, to manage efficiently and effectively the system resources, making system decisions and examining the system. The tools are primarily divided into two categories:- Real Time -These are tools for measuring the system current state which helps provides performance information about a system Long-based monitoring helps to keep information about the performance in processing information and analysis (Operating System Tools, n.d.) Monitoring Tools Operating systems monitor their resources, in a computing environment processes are the key resources being monitored and is done at every process level. The information are collected as the operating system is running so as to check on effective memory management, scheduling, multiprogramming and other decisions Performance monitoring is useful while developing and refining systems as well as provide day to day operation. Monitoring helps us to forecast on the performance of the system and have a long term solution to a defect in case the operating system malfunctions. The tools used in monitoring performance include:- Real Time Performance Tools-displays the current state of the system. Task manager:-is a tool for monitoring processes on windows OS it helps us analyze the performance of the running apps and here we can disable those applications that are not in use.(Installing Operating System, n.d.) References Installing Operating System. (n.d.). Retrieved from Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/upgrading/compat/ Operating System Tools. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/ITAS01CD/page_28.htm

Monday, March 30, 2020

Jean Galea Interview - the Founder of WP Mayor

Let me just assure you that the Pirate Interviews series is going to continue into 2017 with many more  great WordPress people on board. Im not going to spoil the surprise, but if youd like us to invite someone in particular, please mention  him/her in the comments.Okay, about todays interview the next person to step up is certainly a man with many ideas and many projects under his belt. Jean Galea  is what you would call an influencer in the WordPress space. Over the years, he has earned his spot in the limelight by being the man behind a number of interesting projects.With WP Mayor being around since 2010, WP RSS Aggregator used by 40,000+ people now, and his latest MastermindFM podcast being nearly two years old theres surely a lot to talk about.Plus, apart from what youd call work, Jean is also living many peoples digital nomadic  dream, being a WordPress  entrepreneur and traveling the world at the same time.Heres our Jean Galea interview:Jean Galea interviewIn short, what is your history with WordPress?Jean Galea:I stumbled on WordPress during my studies at university. I worked as a freelance web developer on the side to help finance my education. After a brief stint with Joomla I switched to WordPress, attracted by its promise of an easy installation and straightforward theme customizations. Soon after graduating, I teamed up with a friend of mine to form a WordPress agency in Malta. I ran that successfully for a few years before moving on to blogging and product development.What are the benefits and challenges of remote work?Jean Galea:Working remotely was my dream even when I was younger and didnt have my own business yet. I dreamt of a future where we could work from a location of our choosing where we can be most productive.Honestly, I had a few short stints working in offices while on summer break when I was a student, and I hated the office politics and time wasted due to constant interruptions. I am also very much into tech and love bei ng able to make my own choices with regards to my desk, chair and other hardware and software. This is usually not possible in an office environment. Another big downside was the lost time in commuting and being stuck in traffic jams.With that in mind, you will understand that Im all for remote work and find myself very comfortable in such a setup. It is a bit tougher to recruit people who are able to work remotely, as you need to have a high sense of autonomy and be able to organize your day and motivate yourself. So thats one of the challenges for sure, although nowadays it is getting easier to find people who already have experience with remote work as it is becoming more and more popular around the world.Perhaps the one thing that office-bound teams have that I miss is the camaraderie and cohesion that is built by a united team pursuing a particular goal. It can still be present in a remote team but its not as tangible. Thats why yearly retreats can be a great tool for remote te ams.You and your wife are living and working as digital nomads. What were the biggest drawbacks, if any, of this lifestyle?Jean Galea:Lets get the drawbacks out of the way. The biggest challenge is the fact that being constantly on the move makes it exponentially harder to form routines and have a comfortable work space where everything works and you can just walk in and start getting things done.On the other hand, a digital nomad lifestyle will reward you with incredible experiences (and challenges) that will remain with you for the rest of your life. The experience of immersing oneself in totally different cultures will give you the chance to appreciate things on a deeper level so that they can become part of your personality.What are your favorite development tools and why?Jean Galea:I use Sublime Text for code editing and Mamp Pro for setting up a local server environment. These days my development time is very limited but when I do jump into code those are the main tools I use. As a team we also rely a lot on Slack and Atlassians JIRA and Confluence to manage our projects and internal communication. You can also read about all the software I use over on my blog.So far, youve had several successful WordPress projects. Do you have certain criteria to determine whether a project might be successful?Jean Galea:I try to look beyond my own ideas and dreams and ask people in the community whether they would have a need for whatever project I dreamt up. If there is an overwhelming positive response, Ill go ahead and develop a first prototype. Theres a lot to be said on this topic, though, and there are many ways to make a successful entry with WordPress products. We have a few episodes tackling this very topic on Mastermind.fm, including an interview with Pippin Williamson who is a real master at achieving success over and over again with several products.You may also be interested in these articles:ANDREY RARST SAVCHENKO INTERVIEWTONY PEREZ INTERVIEW – CE O AND CO-FOUNDER OF SUCURIAHMAD AWAIS INTERVIEW – WORDPRESS CORE CONTRIBUTORHow  did you decide to create the WP RSS Aggregator  plugin? RSS is not that popular nowadays.Jean Galea:I created the plugin for two reasons. First, I had been waiting for the opportune time to create a plugin and submit it to the WordPress repo and finally had some time to work on something. Secondly, I needed a way to import WordPress jobs and news from others sites onto my WP Mayor blog. So, armed with a use case and some time, I went ahead and created the first iteration of the plugin which was enough for my simple needs at the time.What happened next will answer the second part of your question. Feature requests started pouring in via the plugins support forum on .org and that led to me creating premium addons for the original core plugin. That core plugin has of course also come a long way from where it started in 2012, mostly thanks to the excellent developers on our team.Its been almost t wo years since youve started Mastermind.fm. How has this experience been for you?Jean Galea:Ive always felt comfortable writing, but speaking is not something I consider to be one of my natural strengths. So first of all, the idea of having a podcast was to challenge myself to improve and develop my speaking skills, as this is undoubtedly an important tool in an entrepreneurs arsenal.The research is the same across blogging and podcasting, but podcasting is harder as youre recording everything live and need to keep things flowing at all times. Sitting down to record a podcast is a much more intense experience for me compared to writing a blog post. Recording a podcast takes 30 minutes to one hour while writing a blog post can take several hours or even spread across a few days.Talking about Mastermind.fm specifically, its been an awesome journey so far. Ive been blessed to have an excellent co-host in James, who has a lot of experience in the domain of public speaking. Doing the pod cast with him helps me improve much quicker than if I had to do it on my own.Moreover, the whole point of Mastermind.fm was to open our private mastermind session to the public as we both felt that we were sharing and discussing topics that would be useful for many other WordPress entrepreneurs. I consider this project as a good way of giving back to the WordPress community, which has given me so much in the past ten years.We have now started inviting guests on the show and this will give us the opportunity to have discussions about even more topics and have more viewpoints on things. Lastly, we have also been lucky to find sponsors early on and this helps us keep the show self-sustainable and viable in the long term.To be successful, you said one should never stop learning. Do you have someone you currently look up to or follow? What do you read during your spare time?Jean Galea:That is indeed my maxim. I dont have a particular person I look up to or follow. Ive never had idols and believe that one should blaze their own trail in life. Having said that, I do enjoy reading biographies of people who are successful in different areas of life and always learn a lot from their lives. I read about many different topics. Apart from tech and business, I also enjoy reading about philosophy and psychology, with a good novel thrown in every now and then for good measure.With several priorities to juggle and the excitement of living abroad, what does your typical workday look like? How would you describe your workflow?Jean Galea:Well, there simply isnt a typical workday really! I try to juggle many things and do the best I can to have enough time for work, fitness and sports as well as my family. Ive written about my workflow on my blog if youd like to get more in depth about the tools and processes I use.If you had one advice to give to an aspiring developer, what would it be?Jean Galea:I would tell them to get involved in the WordPress community right from the start. A ttend WordCamps, join groups like Advanced WP on Facebook, WP Chat or the Post Status community, contribute to blogs and release plugins on the .org plugin repository.The more you get involved and make connections, the faster youll achieve success. The community is by far the best thing about WordPress, Ive met many incredibly awesome people in my journey that have become friends beyond work and I cant be thankful enough for this experience.This concludes our Jean Galea interview. If you happen to have any questions, please feel free to submit them below. Well try getting Jean back to answer them.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Free Essays on Meditation

My bread meditation experience was honestly very hard. This made me think about a lot in life, as did my desert experience. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to just eat bread for a meal. Can we just survive on bread? I don’t know that would be so hard I guess we could if we really needed to. I sat looked at my piece of bread and just thought for a little while before I ate it. I thought about those people that have less than me in different countries. How much I should really appreciate just this little piece of bread. I thought, is it going to fill me up? Probably not but I should be fortunate to just have this. I began to eat the piece of bread and I ate it very slowly making sure I told myself mentally and spiritually to cherish this piece. As I was eating it I also began to think about The Last Supper and how special a simple piece of bred can be in so many different of ways. This is the body of Christ that we are eating Jesus sacrificed His body and blood for us. When I go to church on Sunday I always here â€Å"The Body of Christ† as I receive communion, and I would always kind of put that in the back of my mind. I think this experience informs me a little bit more on the importance of that simple piece of bread â€Å"The Body of Christ†. The other day I was rummaging through my cabinets looking for food and complaining because I didn’t have anything I wanted to eat, this was before my bread experience. Now that I look back on it I probably could have made over twenty different meals but it wasn’t anything I wanted at that time so I got upset. This me ditation really made me appreciate everything I have in life. Jesus statement to Peter is kind of confusing to me, I’m not really sure what Jesus is trying to get across to Peter. If I had to make an assumption I would say that Jesus is saying if you love me you would do anything for me as Jesus loved us and gave up His body and blood for us. Someth... Free Essays on Meditation Free Essays on Meditation My bread meditation experience was honestly very hard. This made me think about a lot in life, as did my desert experience. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to just eat bread for a meal. Can we just survive on bread? I don’t know that would be so hard I guess we could if we really needed to. I sat looked at my piece of bread and just thought for a little while before I ate it. I thought about those people that have less than me in different countries. How much I should really appreciate just this little piece of bread. I thought, is it going to fill me up? Probably not but I should be fortunate to just have this. I began to eat the piece of bread and I ate it very slowly making sure I told myself mentally and spiritually to cherish this piece. As I was eating it I also began to think about The Last Supper and how special a simple piece of bred can be in so many different of ways. This is the body of Christ that we are eating Jesus sacrificed His body and blood for us. When I go to church on Sunday I always here â€Å"The Body of Christ† as I receive communion, and I would always kind of put that in the back of my mind. I think this experience informs me a little bit more on the importance of that simple piece of bread â€Å"The Body of Christ†. The other day I was rummaging through my cabinets looking for food and complaining because I didn’t have anything I wanted to eat, this was before my bread experience. Now that I look back on it I probably could have made over twenty different meals but it wasn’t anything I wanted at that time so I got upset. This me ditation really made me appreciate everything I have in life. Jesus statement to Peter is kind of confusing to me, I’m not really sure what Jesus is trying to get across to Peter. If I had to make an assumption I would say that Jesus is saying if you love me you would do anything for me as Jesus loved us and gave up His body and blood for us. Someth...

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Commercial case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Commercial case study - Essay Example The client in these contracts has no long term liabilities to the independent project manager who can be dispensed with if he/she fails to meet the terms of the contract. Moreover, the independent project manager can be compensated using a variety of payment mechanisms, the details of which have been presented in the report. Dobson (2004) and Frame (2002) believe that one of the most basic rules of project management is to focus on the triple constraints which are Scope, Time, and Cost. Any relaxation in any of these results in a snowball effect on the scope, late and over-budget project delivery, resulting in unsuccessful categorization of the project. An independent project manager gets to have an impartial view of the situation without any preconceived notions and biased relationships (Walker, 2002, p. 10). Moreover, it is difficult to influence an independent project manager through the existing negotiation power that may rest with the other parties involved. An independent project manager provides a critical analysis of the scope of the project without any conflicts of interest. Scope setting by the owner of the project often results in over-commitment whereas if done by the contractors often results in under-commitment. An independent view on the other hand provides a more balanced assessment of the situation. According to Ibbs and Kwak (2000), and Peter Morris (1999) procurement is an important component of project management. An independent project manager is largely unaffected by the balance of power in existing vendor relationships. Moreover, he can make unbiased decisions for the good of the project without the burden of existing relationships hanging over him. An independent project manager brings in a fresh perspective, a broad list of vendor options and experience of dealing with them, and best practices from the industry regarding contractual relationships. He will also be

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

E-Business Plan (Supply Chain Management, Competitive Tracking, and Research Paper

E-Business Plan (Supply Chain Management, Competitive Tracking, and Conclusion) - Research Paper Example The main geographic market being targeted by the company is that of United States of America (USA). Some of the characteristics of primary target market of Kidz-IDz are that they are caring and concerned with respect to the safety of their children and are ready to spend money in order to ensure that the children are protected and safe. At the same time, the target market of the company is ready to take part in the educational process for learning different safety precautions. Marketing Mix: One of the important elements of the marketing plans is the marketing mix or most commonly known as the 4P’s of marketing (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). In this section the strategies of 4P’s of marketing with respect to the e-business are presented. Product: Kidz-IDz presents the parents with different options and products which can facilitate the parents in the process of keeping the children safe. Different kits offered by the company includes different identification details about the child along with the picture identity. The main kit, known as Kidz-IDz kit consists of different products like identification card with photo, medical card, fingerprinting, and several other tools (Kidz-IDz). With the help of all of these tools, parents can make sure that all essential measures are taken for the safety of the children. This product will carry all necessary information about the child and if he or she get lost somewhere or get indulge in some medical emergency, it will become easier to take life saving measures and contact the parents. Apart from this, the data and information can be converted into electronic information which can be forwarded to different institutions quickly in the case of emergency. Along with this the company allows the parents to update the data regularly in order to make sure that the data is not outdated. Price: All these safety items or tools in the Kidz-IDz kit are available at the price of $100.00. All products of the company are reason ably priced, so that most of the parents can afford the child safety products. Promotion: The company is currently promoting and marketing itself by taking part in different fundraising and charity programs. Kidz-IDz has positioned itself as the leader in the field of providing the all required information in order to keep the children safe and protected. In order to target more customers and ensuring that more and more children are protected, the company will promote itself online. For this purpose, Kidz-IDz will focus more on social media marketing and will launch the e-business with the help of TOP shelf marketing. Place: Along with the traditional brick and mortar physical store, the company will now also enter into the industry of e-commerce or e-business and launch the online store. The company will use penetrating pricing in order to increase the penetration of the product in the market. Online Strategies: In order to make sure that more and more traffic is targeted towards t he website and there are more revenues, the company will

Monday, January 27, 2020

Theories and studies about reducing racial prejudice

Theories and studies about reducing racial prejudice Everyone has a race or ethnic group that they see themselves as being part of. On the other hand, not all people are exposed to stinging words or physical harm from a prejudiced individual because of the color of their skin. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2005), there are approximately 210,000 hate crimes a year; racial prejudice is the motivation for over half of them. This paper will discuss theories and studies on ways to reduce racial prejudice. Racial prejudice has been around since groups of people could distinguish themselves from one another (Milner, 1983). The 1920s were when prejudice started catching the attention of psychologists as a social phenomenon that needed to be studied (Duckitt, 1992). Samelson (1978) talked about how tests between races were first meant to measure individuality but soon the authors were publishing empirical evidence that Whites were superior to Blacks (as cited in Duckitt, 1992, p. 1185). Milner (1983) states that prejudice occurs because people become frustrated, need a scapegoat, or because they are feeling some anxiety and need a way to release it. One of the first texts on prejudice and reducing prejudice was written by Gordon W. Allport. Encouraged by Robin Williams study on conditions that further the reduction of racism, Allport wrote The Nature of Prejudice in which he discusses his contact hypothesis (Utsey, Ponterotto, Porter, 2008). Allport (1954) stated that prejudice may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals (p. 281). Allport (1954) also says there are eight different areas of contact, causal, residential, occupational, recreational, religious, civic and fraternal, political, and goodwill intergroup activities. Allport (1954) says that both state and federal legislation can be used to pass antidiscrimination laws and have public agencies enforce these laws. According to Allport (1954), there are six programs that can be used to reduce prejudice. They are formal educational methods, contact and acquaintance programs, group retraining methods, mass media, exhortation, and individual therapy. Allport (1954) feels that individual therapy is the best one, yet no study has been convincing of this. Allport (1954) describes formal educational methods as teaching about prejudice in the school setting. There are five types of formal educational methods. There is the informational approach, direct approach, indirect approach, the approach through vicarious experience, and the project method. The next method is contact and acquaintance programs which means that White people and Black people get together and get to know each other. The third method is group retraining. In group retraining, the outgroup members and the ingroup members switch roles and try to become empathetic to each other. The fourth method is mass media in which messages are sent in the media spreading information on tolerance of others. The next method is exhortation which is like religion in which leaders spread the message of tolerance of other people. Finally, there is individual therapy in which a person meets with a therapist to change their way of thinking. Blincoe and Harris (2009) talk about three major programs that cause a minimization in racial prejudice. Cooperation is similar to Allports (1954) contact theory. This program has been used in jigsaw classrooms in which children are broken up into racially varied group and then each child is given a piece of information to teach to the others (Aronson Bridgeman, 2007; Blincoe Harris, 2009). Along with the children learning information, they also showed higher self-esteem, liked school more, and for minorities, their school grades had improved (Aronson Bridgeman, 2007). The tolerance program is synonymous with political tolerance and the respect program is supposed to reinforce and encourage diversity (Blincoe Harris, 2009). Crisp and Turner (2009) hypothesize that imagining contact with an outgroup can have a close or same effect on diminishing prejudice as actual contact with an outgroup. Turner, Crisp, and Lambert, (2007) found that participants who imagined an optimistic interaction with an outgroup member conveyed more positive attitudes and less prejudice than those who did not (as cited in Crisp Turner, 2009). Stathi and Crisp (2008) did a study that showed that even though projection of positive self traits is higher for ingroups than outgroups (Clement Krueger, 2002), positive imagined contact leads to greater projection of positive traits to outgroups (as cited in Crisp Turner, 2009, p. 234). In addition to contact theory, there is the goal based approach which consists of three goals that people need to reach. These are comprehension goals, self-enhancement goals, and motivation to avoid prejudice (Kunda Spencer, 2003). Kunda and Spencer (2003) say that comprehension goals include the need to understand events, reduce the complexity of the environment, gain cognitive clarity, and form rational impressions. Stereotypes serve these needs by enabling perceivers to simplify and understand the huge amounts of social information that they confront and to make inferences that go beyond available information (p. 524). They also say that self-enhancement goals include the need to protect and enhance self-esteem. Lastly, motivation to avoid prejudice inhibits the activation of stereotypes. When people notice that they are treating others differently because of their skin color, they will feel the discrepancies because they know it is not right. Therefore they feel guilty which ma kes them repress their prejudiced thoughts. Another part of the goal-based theory is why there is prejudice in the first place. Kenrick, Neugberg, and Cialdini (2009) feel that there are two things that prejudice does for people, it helps us gain economic resources and the characteristics of the other groups bring our economic goals to our attention. The first way to achieve the goals of the goal-based theory is to attempt to change the character of the prejudiced person. The second is to change the situation in which the prejudiced person feels like they can discriminate against others. Next is to give people a different way to satisfy their goals and last is to activate goals incompatible with prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. Part of the goal-based approach involves looking at the point of view of other people. Galinksy and Moskowitz (2000) say that when a person looks at themselves, they have higher favorable responses to the ingroup. Turner (1987) says favoritism increases toward the in-group (as cited in, Galinsky Moskowitz, 2000, p. 709). Therefore, thinking that you are part of the outgroup will increase positive responses to them and decrease prejudice thoughts about them (Galinsky Moskowitz, 2000). In the judicial area, the goal-based approach has some significance. Studying about prejudice and ingroups and outgroups can become very important especially for those who may be suing another person in civil court for injury that they could have caused. People tend to like others who are similar to them (Kerr, Hymes, Anderson, Weathers, 1995). If a juror feels that they are not similar to the plaintiff in a malpractice case that juror might feel that the plaintiff should get a lower amount of money to compensate for the damages or perhaps believe they should not get any money at all. The same applies to the defendant. If the juror feels they are similar to the defendant than they could be more lenient on his punishment (Green Bornstein, 2003). However, Marques and Yzerbyt (1988) say that the opposite effect can also happen. That is, the jurors are harsher on an ingroup member because they are part of the ingroup and they pose a threat to the positive image of the ingroup members. They call it the black sheep effect in which positively viewed ingroup members are viewed better than outgroup members but negatively viewed ingroup members are viewed as being worse than outgroup members (as cited in, Green Bornstein 2003). Finally, there is the ignorance hypothesis. People experience prejudiced thoughts because they simply do not know any better (Kenrick, Neugberg, Cialdini, 2009). If everyone would interact with the other groups, they wouldnt stereotype individuals of other groups. However, Stephan and Stephan (1996) say research shows that this approach does little to reduce prejudice (as cited in, Kenrick, Neuburg, Cialdini, 2009). Case (2007) did a study in which college students were required to take a course on diversity. The course was designed to heighten recognition of White privilege and racism, raise support for affirmative action, and decrease prejudice, guilt, and fear of other races. The students took a survey at the beginning of the course which measured White privilege, awareness of racism, and the students level of racism to different ethnic groups. The same survey was given at the end of the semester as well. Results showed white privilege, awareness of racism and support for affirmative action increased. However, students reported greater fear of other races. Students levels of racism remained constant except for racism against Latinos, which increased. Case explains this as possibly being by chance or that the course could have actually increased prejudice. Blanchard, Lilly, and Vaughn (1991) hypothesized that hearing another person express strong antiracist opinions would have more of an effect than hearing another person express equal opinions or opinions that were more accepting of racism. They also speculated that when a person hears another person express strong support of racism, the first person showed less support of antiracism. They did two studies in which they interviewed college students in a group with a confederate who either openly expressed strong antiracist views or strong racist views when asked about a false situation in what should happen to another student who wrote racist notes. There was a neutral condition in which the participant answered the questions first and in the other condition the confederate answered first. The authors hypotheses were confirmed in both of the experiments. In 2007, four studies were done by Turner, Hewstone, and Loci that investigated self-disclosure as a mediator of the effect of cross-group friendship and vicarious experiences of such friendship (p. 371). The subjects for studies one were children between the ages of eight and twelve. The ages of the children for subjects two and three were 12 through 16. The last study included undergraduate students. In Study One, students were first given tasks that required them to categorize photographs of faces as negative or positive and White or Asian. The last tasks were to categorize White/Positive or Asian/Negative and White/Negative or Asian/Positive. In Study Two, the students were given questionnaires on their thoughts on the other ethnic group. The third study was the same as the second study except the experimenters used a larger group. In Study Four, White participants were given a questionnaire that measured predictor variables, mediator variables, and explicit outgroup attitude. So me of questions were, How often do you discuss intimate or personal issues with people who are Asian? (p. 380) and How rewarding are the interactions you have with Asian people? (p. 380). All four studies found that self-disclosure positively predicted explicit outgroup attitude. Vrij, Akehurst, and Smith (2003) conducted a study where people were shown cue cards and then were given surveys to measure prejudice. They focused on seven principles, that they say decrease prejudice when used in public campaigns. The seven principles are (1) an emphasis on similarities; (2) positive similarities in a positive context; (3) many representative members; (4) provision of explicit information; (5) employ a credible source; (6) state illegality; (7) central and peripheral routes to persuasion (p. 285). Each of the cue cards had one of the seven principles or the opposite of it. For example, state illegality was shown on one cue card as one White man and one Black man approximately the same age with wording above them that said These two men applied for a job as an Accounts Manager. The man on the left was turned down because he is Black (p. 291); the other card was the same as the first one but had the wording IT IS ILLEGAL TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE (RACE R ELATIONS ACT, 1976) (p. 291). Subjects were then given a survey that measured their prejudice. Vrij, Akehurst, and Smith found that if the subject viewed a card that did not have one of the seven principles, their prejudice had increased versus if they had seen one of the principles. The two principles that had the most effect were emphasis of similarities and similarities in a positive context. Carpenter, Za ´rate, and Garzas study that was done in 2007, focused on using differences and individuality to reduce prejudice in groups that are African American, White American, Mexican American, and Mexican National. In Experiment One, the African American and White American participants were first primed with stories that had an emphasis on the personal self or others. Then, they filled out questionnaires while looking at pictures of African Americans and White Americans. The White Americans, who were primed to have an emphasis on others, had reduced prejudice. However, the African Americans showed no difference in prejudice levels. In Experiment Two, White Americans, Mexican Americans, and Mexican Nationals took self-esteem tests and then answered questions on all three groups. Carpenter, Za ´rate, and Garza (2007) found that self-esteem did not have any effect on prejudice and that looking at ways that your own ethnic group is different from other groups can lessen prejudi ce. Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) did a meta-analysis of over 500 studies and 713 independent samples that tested the intergroup contact theory. Their findings showed that intergroup contact does decrease intergroup prejudice. Pettigrew and Tropp go on to say that the conditions are not independent but entwined with each other. They also feel that intergroup contact can be utilized to end prejudice against other underrepresented groups. Racism not only exists among individual people but also in government forms. Billingsley and Giovannoni (1972) have been doing studies that show that African American children have been consistently counted out from services provided by child welfare establishments, they believe this is due to racism that exists in these institutions (as cited in, Miller Ward, 2008). Miller and Ward (2008) say there has been overrepresentation of African Americans in the welfare system for a long time. They then go on to talk about the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) methodology was used to analyze the welfare systems racism and then identify strategies to reduce the racial disproportions. The BSC theory of change has six areas which are (1) increase the awareness and understanding of the issue, (2) identify challenges and test strategies for improvement, (3) implement site-level policy and practice improvements, (4) spread the improvements throughout the larger system, (5) sustain system-wi de improvements, and (6) improve child and family outcomes (p. 227). Many participants of the program reported being able to achieve a fully functional program in their location. However, the participants said they had difficulty spreading changes from their location to a larger system. More work still needs to be done to stop the racial prejudice that occurs in the welfare system. There are also racial discrepancies in the health care system. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2006, the age-adjusted death rate for White Americans of both sexes, was 764.4 and for African Americans of both sexes, it was 982.0 (Heron, Hoyert, Murphy, Xu, Kochanek, Tejada-Vera, 2009). In 2002, Dovidio et al. conducted a study of racism that occurs during an emergency. White subjects were half as likely to help a Black person as they were to help a White person. While the participants opposed that the idea they were racist, it was the only difference in the fabricated emergency (as cited in Carlson Chamberlain, 2004, p. 375). Carlson and Chamberlain (2004) say that to reduce the health disparities between White Americans and African Americans, there must be a change in the research areas that combine social conditions with the physiological pathways to health and disease and that we need to join together on emotional levels to understand each other to c hange racial attitudes. In addition to healthcare and welfare, racism has even showed up in our grocery stores. In a study that was done in 2003, Topolski, Boyd-Bowman, and Ferguson found differences in the quality of fruits in grocery stores that were part of the same chain but were located in different parts of the city. They collected fruit samples from stores that were located in neighborhoods that had high socio-economic status and low socio-economic status. More minorities lived in the lower income neighborhoods. The quality of the fruit in the high SES neighborhood was better than the fruit that came from the other neighborhood, as judged by students who examined, ate the fruit and then rated them. As you can see, there is hope for eliminating racial prejudice. On the other hand, a lot of the studies that I presented in this paper were done with children and college students. It still leaves out a majority of the population. Yet, I think we have come a long way from previous generations in accepting others, especially in the case of race and ethnicity. If we eliminate or even reduce racial prejudice, then minority children will do better in school, they will have better economic and career opportunities, and will experience lower rates of crime against them. With the current research on racial prejudice, we could also apply these theories to sexism, homophobia, and ageism. Hopefully, in time, Andy Warhols I think everybody should like everybody quote will finally be true.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Two Former Tyco Executives Found Guilty

The past three years have witnessed stunning financial collapses in many companies that were ranked among the most admired companies in America. Sunbeam, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and HealthSouth were lauded, imitated, and studied for their stunning performances. Now they are studied for their failures. What went wrong? How could so much go so wrong? And, the inevitable question, where were the auditors and the accountants as these financial statements of well-being were released? Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski, former CFO Mark Swartz, and former general counsel Mark Belnick were all indicted on charges that Kozlowski and Swartz, among others, stole $170 million from the company and pocketing $430 million from the fraudulent sale of Tyco stock. Belnick was charged with hiding $14 million in loans to himself. Tyco's management fired back as well. It filed a lawsuit against Kozlowski looking to recoup $244 million in pay and benefits. Tyco, over the period between 1964 and 2001, went from a small research firm based in New Hampshire to a conglomerate with a presence in over 100 countries and over 250,000 employees. Between 1991 and 2001, then-CEO Dennis Kozlowski took Tyco from $3 billion in annual sales to $36 billion in 2001 with over 200 acquisitions at a cost of $60 billion. It was through its expansive acquisition program that Tyco's accounting pushed the envelope. Tyco made its acquisitions look as anemic as possible. Called â€Å"spring-loading,† the goal was to have the acquired company seem to be a nonperformer in terms of earnings, much below its actual performance. However, if the acquired company then simply performs normally the following year, Tyco enjoys a boost to both its growth as well as respect for its management ability. Spring-loading is easily accomplished by, for example, having the acquired company pay all bills for the acquisition, even if that bill is not due, and also pay all other bills, whether they are due and owing. Raychem's treasurer sent out the following email when Tyco was acquiring Raychem: At Tyco's request, all major Raychem sites will pay all pending payables, whether they are due or not †¦ I understand from Ray [Raychem's CFO] that we have agreed to do this, even though we will be spending the money for no tangible benefit either to Raychem or Tyco. A report completed by David Boies, at the direction of Tyco's board, included an interview with an employee of another Tyco acquisition in which the employee indicates that a Tyco executive asked: â€Å"How high can we get these things? How can we justify getting this higher?† (Ackroyd & Thompson, 1999). The Boies report indicates that Tyco executives used both incentives and pressure on executives in order to get them to push the envelope on accounting rules in the acquisition process. The SEC has begun an investigation into Tyco's accounting in its acquisition of U.S. Surgical in 1998. Documents in the case include memoranda between Tyco financial executives proposing ways to slow U.S. Surgical's growth between the Tyco acquisition announcement and actual transfers of the assets. The memos refer to their ideas as â€Å"financial engineering†. Just prior to final closure, U.S. Surgical took a one-time hit of $322 million in miscellaneous charges. Beginning in the last quarter of 2001, Tyco's shares began to drop in price as shareholders realized the extent of the accounting creativity. By the summer of 2002, when Kozlowski was indicted for sales tax evasion on transactions involving his personal art collection, shareholder trust was dissipated and Tyco's shares had fallen 80 percent, from over $50 per share to just above $10. For purposes of examining ethics instruction for accountants, auditors, and managers, there are two common factors in these case studies. First, the financial pictures painted of the companies were grossly distorted. Only the level of sophistication in terms of masking the true financial condition varies among the companies. Enron used the slightly more nuanced SPEs while WorldCom used the less glitzy sleight of hand in turning ordinary expenses into capital expenses. Sunbeam relied on quantitative materiality standards to evade detection of its management of numbers, and HealthSouth seemed to start with the numbers it wanted for results and work backward. Second, these were also companies trying to maintain exponential growth. There were continuing pledges from their CEOs to keep the double-digit growth going. That pressure to maintain numbers increased with each passing quarter as the economy took a downturn and as their once unique strategies for growth fell victim to competition or the realities of economic cycles. The distortions were a function of their goals of maintaining an unrealistic pace of earnings growth. In short, individuals in the companies felt pressure and succumbed to deceit to satisfy increasing demands. These companies and those responsible for their financial reports were not dabbling in gray areas. The issues in these cases are clear and the conduct plainly wrong. With all the training in ethics and professional responsibility, the question that arises is as follows: How could so much go so wrong for so long in such large companies with no one raising an effective objection to halt the juggernauts of creative financial reporting and accounting? That this question must be posed in the wake of such staggering failures actually provides the answer. The answer is that those who were engaged in the creative and, often, not-so-creative but fraudulent accounting were trained in schools of business in which the curriculum (including ethics courses) is misguided in terms of training ethical leaders. The senior officer group of Enron included M.B.A.s who were trained during the financial wizardry era of M.B.A. programs in the 1980s. Mark Schwartz, the CFO of Tyco, held an M.B.A. Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, held an M.B.A. from Harvard. Andrew Fastow, then CFO, graduated from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Clifford Baxter, another member of Enron's senior executive team, graduated from NYU's M.B.A. program. Tragically, Mr. Baxter took his own life following the collapse of Enron and during the period of daily revelations about its activities and the pending Congressional hearings. Mr. Baxter clearly saw the accounting issues within the company because Sherron Watkins, considered the whistleblower in the case, references him in her internal memo as someone who understood the accounting improprieties. Mr. Baxter left the company in the final months prior to its collapse. The M.B.A. curriculum has, since the time of the Milken and Boesky era, trained students in the importance of smoothing out earnings so as to maximize shareholder value, the often-stated role of business. While the role of business in society and the issues surrounding maximizing shareholder wealth are typical topics of coverage in ethics courses and modules in business schools, very little in textbooks and mandates from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) focuses on moral absolutes or â€Å"bright line† virtue ethics such as honesty, fairness, or even false impressions in financial disclosures. The AACSB guidelines contain no mandates or references to these issues of honesty or training students in resolution of dilemmas involving honesty, disclosure, and false impression. The typical topics for business ethics textbooks, indeed for the literature in the field, center around social responsibility, and include a plethora of materials and cases on environmental issues, health and safety issues, sweatshops, diversity, and corporate philanthropy. The officers of all of the companies examined here and the companies themselves were all heavily involved in community and philanthropic work. Because of the focus of business schools on social responsibility as ethics, many of these officers and, to a large extent, the cultures of these companies, felt comfortable with deceptions in the name of shareholder value because they were accomplishing what they were trained to do in business school and they had ethics derived from their dedication to philanthropy, diversity, and environmentalism. These were all â€Å"soft† companies in the sense that they were not involved in those types of activities that are the targets of environmental protesters or labor activists. These were not companies running sweatshops or producing chemicals. Their perception of being â€Å"good† derived from the definition of good touted and taught by business ethicists in schools of business. The split, in their minds, between right and wrong did not lie along the lines of virtue ethics, but, rather, along the lines of social responsibility. Enron's CFO, Andrew Fastow, was beloved in Houston's Jewish community for his fund-raising for the city's proposed Holocaust museum. He was also involved in the city's art museum and virtually every other philanthropic cause related to the arts in the Houston area. Even those who worked with these officers in community projects and fund-raising had equated social responsibility with ethics, and were consistently shocked when Enron's financial conduct and reports were revealed. All of the companies noted here, as well as Charles Keating's American Continental and Finova Capital (the 7th-largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States), were widely known for their dedication to philanthropic activity, social responsibility, environmental activism, and dedication to community generosity. The curricula at business schools had permitted them the luxury of rationalization when it came to accounting and financial reporting because, in their minds, they had reached the conclusion Jeffrey Skilling touted in nearly every interview he gave, which was, â€Å"We are on the side of angels†. The behavior of executives in these companies reflects their grounding in any one of the three currently used models of business school ethics training: (1) the social responsibility model; (2) the code model; and (3) the stakeholder/normative model. Under the social responsibility model, students are educated in the importance of environmentalism, diversity, human rights, and philanthropy. Included in this approach may also be extensive discussions of product liability issues. Deficiencies in this approach are characterized in the previous section. The most descriptive list of this approach to ethics is found in the screens used by social responsibility investment funds, listed as follows: 1. The hiring of women and minorities; 3. Equity interest and ownership of South African operations (this screen is now dated because of the elimination of apartheid); 5. No layoffs and the hiring and promotion of those with disabilities; 6. No generation of revenue from weapons production; 7. Donations and the use of economically disadvantaged contractors and suppliers; and So long as stock prices are cranking up, it seems the CEO can be â€Å"cellophane man† for all anyone cares. But CEO divas are still quite an item in the business press. One thing is clear: Credibility and character count. Post-Enron, integrity and fair play matter more than the old gung-ho. Press reports about the lack of executive integrity are everywhere. One notable media story exposed the rise of companies conducting extensive background checks, complete with credit reports and neighbor interviews, for prospective CEOs. Ronald Zarrella, Bausch and Lomb's chief executive, was found to have shaded the truth about his credentials, saying he had an M.B.A. from New York University. Actually, he left prior to graduating. The board responded by cutting him out of a $1.1 million year-end bonus. Today CEOs are getting slammed for hoarding huge bonuses as they terminate legions of mid-level managers and production workers in the face of recession fears. Dennis Koslowski, CEO of Tyco, siphoned off millions from the firm by granting and forgiving employee relocation loans. He used the wealth for such essentials as a $15,000 umbrella. A guilty plea by one auditor and the criminal conviction of his audit firm have resulted in statutory reform, new policies on financial reporting, and stricter regulatory requirements for audit firms. When all the reform dust settles, however, and the new statutes, regulations, and rules are implemented, auditors and those who educate them will still be left with the same question: why were auditors willing to allow the types of financial reports and reporting decisions that produced fundamentally unfair and inaccurate portraits of the companies they were auditing? The answer to this question requires exploration of ethics education in both business schools and schools of accountancy. While there are voids in that training, there are also seminal works that could be used to help future accountants and auditors understand the dilemmas they will face and how to resolve such dilemmas. The Israeli bank-shares fiasco, the Enron affair, and, in its wake now, the WorldCom and Tyco scandals clearly demonstrate that unethical managers are a liability not only to their own organizations, but to the general public. The problem is that the formulation and publication of codes of ethics alone do not guarantee that managers and employees will behave ethically. Moreover, it is evident that managerial ethical behavior has a great deal of influence on the ethical climate and culture of the organization. Walking the talk is the name of the game, managers must not only be familiar with the ethical culture and accept it, but must serve as examples to the rest of the corporation. Any disparity between the declared ideology of the organization and managers' behavior has a deleterious effect. To establish a reputation of ethical leadership, managers must adhere to a high moral ground and ensure that their actions are perceived to be ethical. When ethical dilemmas are not confronted and when ethical aspects of daily managerial life are ignored, employees quickly perceive that ethical considerations do not constitute an integral component of the organization. They may rightly observe that bottom line and profits, not integrity and accountability, are core values. Consequently, when employees are faced with an ethical dilemma, the almighty dollar is most likely to rule the day.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Infinitely Waiting for Godot Essay

Vladimir and Estragon are two tramps waiting for someone who is never going to come around. We all may find ourselves waiting at one point in time may it are at the grocery store or simply waiting outside of my English class. One may come to find that these two characters are a picturesque example of the futility of human life. â€Å"They talk, they walk, they play different games, they abuse and rebuke each other, even they try to attempt suicide to free themselves from the agonies of life but this remains just an abortive attempt† (Shabnum 1). This inability to free themselves from the shackles of their average day to day monotony makes for a repetitive and predictable play. This repetitiveness only furthers the idea that the pair will be waiting for Godot eternally. The pair seems to be drawn to Godot for one reason or another and cannot bring themselves to leave before they meet Godot. â€Å"As Vladimir and Estragon are already condemned to endless suffering in the form of ceaseless waiting, the spectator might expect them to focus their game on a more optimistic issue† (Karic 2). As Vladimir and Estragon wait on Godot they exemplify the senselessness of human life. Vladimir who can be characterized as the alpha male of the group constantly states that he would like to leave, but the drive to stay put precedes his desire to leave. Knowing this one could assume that Vladimir is extremely discontent with himself. His alpha male persona he portrays is simply a faà §ade to hide his inner feelings of boredom and loneliness. The exchanging of hats between Vladimir and Pozzo show that, Vladimir is yearning for outside stimulus. This give-and-take of hats can be looked at as an interchange of Vladimir’s and Pozzo’s thoughts. This longing for an external source of sensory information is what keeps Vladimir endlessly waiting. Estragon is a sharp contrast from the boldness of Vladimir. Estragon seems to be sitting throughout the entire play which shows his submissiveness to Vladimir. This submissiveness not only defines Estragon’s personality but his viewpoint on life as well. As the play begins to unwind Estragon’s mental continuity begins to deteriorate. This mental deterioration is caused by the endless waiting on Godot. â€Å"In Waiting for Godot, the gradual dilapidation of every character can be felt through different forms of depravity, for depravity exists in all its form – mental, physical, spiritual†(Shabnum 1). This decline is exemplified when Estragon cannot recognize Pozzo and Lucky. Estragon is stuck waiting for Godot for many of the aforementioned reasons stated above. Foremost, Estragon can never seem to make decisions on his own which in turn will keep him waiting for Godot. This lack of decision making on Estragon’s part shows that his real reason why he waits for Godot, is that he is seeking some sort of guidance which Godot can provide. If one can view Godot as a heavenly figure then a religious aspect is added onto why the pair continues to wait for Godot. â€Å"In any case, the tramps expect that when Godot will at last come, they will sleep in a warm and secure shelter, in dry straw, their stomachs filled, and this is why one of them exclaims, â€Å"We shall be saved† (Terrian 7). This idea that Godot is a god figure coming to provide the pair with salvation from death is what keeps them waiting. While the pair continues to wait on Godot they are inevitably coming closer and closer to their death. Although, Vladimir and Estragon could be waiting for a savior they are at the same time killing themselves. In both of the characters minds there is something that Godot can provide for them that they themselves cannot obtain. This only further reinforces the idea that Godot is either some sort of angelical or extraterrestrial being. Why would the pair continue to wait for Godot if they could achieve what they w anted without Godot? The possibility of Godot bestowing the pair with something unworldly is clearly a prospect for thought. Each character also brings to the table many characteristics both innate and learned. First, Vladimir easily draws us into his persona by showing us that he is the most assertive of the pair. In most cases people are drawn to figures of authority. Vladimir perfectly takes on this role of authority over Estragon and this is what first draws the reader into his persona. As one delves deeper into Vladimir’s actions and persona it is easily seen that Vladimir cannot make decisions easily. This is a stern contradiction with his commanding relationship over Estragon. This distinction between being a leader and being unable to make decisions is what makes the pair extremely magnetic. Almost like a married couple, the pair has become so used to bickering and fighting that they need that in their lives to survive. This reliance on one another is also what draws the pair together. The reliance that each of these characters has on one another is not a true friendship as neither of their actions show any deeper relationship between the two. Many times throughout the play Vladimir and Estragon both suggest that they would be better off alone but the pair is extremely hesitant to separate from one another. The setting in which the pair are stuck waiting for Godot is extremely desolate. This lack of anything else to rely on for entertainment or sustenance is what drives the two characters to come together and form a mutual relationship. This sense of nothingness and desolation of the location they are currently in is only combatted by the presence of one another. Vladimir seems to have either had a severe sleeping problem or that he does not want to be lonely when Estragon falls asleep. Constantly trying to wake Estragon up, Vladimir shows us that he does not like to be alone with his thoughts.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Crime Prevention At Osgood Hall Law School - 969 Words

Throngs of activists, the bulk of them female, will parade down the streets of Downtown Los Angeles next week. Scantly clad women will conceal their faces with cardboard cut outs inscribed with words like â€Å"slut† or â€Å"whore†. The signs that they hold up in protest will read â€Å"still not asking for it.† It’s called SlutWalk. Almost five years ago, two events ignited this transnational movement. The first one occurred on January 24th in 2011 when Toronto police officer named Michael Sanguitti and his colleagues were speaking about campus crime prevention at Osgood Hall Law School. While addressing the issue of sexual assault on campus, Michael Sanguitti gave the students some not-so-sage advice, saying, â€Å"Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.† Not even a month later, on February 18th, 2011, Justice Robert Dewar convicted a city council employee named Kenneth Rhodes of sexual assault. The prosecution pushed for a prison sentence, but Rhodes cited several reasons for believing his victim consented. These included that she was wearing a tube top, wearing â€Å"a lot† of makeup, willingly kissed him, and made it clear she wanted to â€Å"party.† In contrast to this â€Å"consent,† he admitted she resisted his advances several times and he raped her on the side of the road, and by his own account he said, â€Å"It will only hurt for a little while.† His punishment was two years of House arrest, after Justice Dewar described him as a â€Å"clumsy Don Juan,† whom had bee mislead